Sleepless
by catzlovecheeze
Summary: It wasn't insomnia or the fear of nightmares that kept me awake. But I was still sleepless. A Masky oneshot. Marble Hornets / Slenderverse.


It was 1 A.M., and I stared at my laptop screen in the dimly lit room, my skin and the bedsheets I lay in lit by the blue glow. For once, though, I wasn't up past night and into morning because of a stubborn internet connection or problems hacking Jay or Tim's twitter.

No, the internet connection was smooth and steady –somewhat of a rarity, being where we were – and I had no assignments currently. But yet the moon was falling, and I was still conscious.

A year ago, I would've called this out as insomnia or fear of nightmares, perhaps stealing some money and getting sleep pills in some back alley way. But pills wouldn't help me sleep. More than that, I didn't even want them.

It wasn't insomnia that was keeping me up, nor was it the fear of the monsters in my head. Those had stopped long ago – I became desensitized not from the monsters outside my head, not from it becoming so commonplace, but from becoming a monster myself.

At least, that's how I saw me.

I glanced over at my lightly breathing partner sleeping beside me on the bed, half of his bare face (his black mask with the red-stitched frown was removed for sleep) lit in the blueish light of my laptop screen. We were like brothers; and, as so many siblings often are not, we were like friends. I was grateful for him – my one light in this hellish dungeon.

I rolled over, dropping one hand over the edge of the low bed to let my fingers sprawl on the cold carpet. I dragged my other hand over my scarred face, feeling grit from my dirty face scratch my palm as it ran over my skin. My mask lay on the floor, under the bed. I moved my hand and nudged the mask a bit, feeling the hard, smooth plastic cold in the night.

Beside me, my friend twitched, his hoodie slung over the back of a chair next to my jacket. I looked up to the cracked mirror across from us to study his reflection in the darkness of the glass.

I too was tired. But here I was, staring at a screen. My body called for sleep, but I ignored it. I pondered why I was rebelling so strongly against the thought of sleep.

Not insomnia. Not nightmares. What, then?

I kept thinking as I turned back to the screen. I hardly ever got to just do whatever, like most sixteen- year - olds would through the summer. I always had a task, assigned by Master; stalk this, stalk that. Hack these and those. No doubt I would need to follow someone else around in the morning, tackle someone in the evening, and hack things before going to sleep and doing it all again. When I finally did sleep, it would be over in a blink and I would have more assignments.

Suddenly, I realized my cause for avoiding sleep.

I didn't want to wake up.

I didn't want this to be over.

Right now, I was free of my Master's commands and orders. I didn't have tasks or jobs, I could just lie in the quiet darkness with my fingers clicking keys and spinning on the mouse pad like a D.J. spinning tracks. I didn't have to wear my stiff mask or follow people. I was free right now.

It felt nice, I realized, pulling my eyes from the screen to lay back and stare at the ceiling.

I figured I'd stay like this for a while, then. Free of my tasks, with my sleeping brother breathing lightly by my side, the summer night warm in the forest outside the duct-taped, cracked window, the room somewhat cool.

Yes, I could stay like this awhile.

Until sleep seemed more appealing than the blue glow of the screen.

Catz: I'm sleep-drunk right now.

Know how when you're tired but you don't wanna sleep cause you'll have to get up and go to school and shizzel, so you don't?

That's kind of what I've got goin on right now. But it's Saturday (or Sunday cause it's technically morning but whateves) so I don't know.

Anyways, this was Masky being all angsty and troubled. Him and Hoodie are not gay in this fic, they just sleep in the same bed because they've got a heterosexual bromance going. So yeah.

I'm gonna go before I start getting really random. So, later Skittles! I hope you enjoyed this, leave a little review to let me know your thoughts!

Till later~

Update: I totally just found this twenty minutes ago.

This is the second unpublished fanfiction I have found in my files today. The other was Lightning.

I am so glad I cleaned up my files and found this. Even months later I'm proud of this fic. This is something I'm excited to upload.

So, I've left the original AN as was, because that was me when I wrote it. I try to keep old fics intact as possible, and on this one I've made only minor revisions. It is no longer the school year, therefore I would not go to school, but that was how it was when I wrote this, so there it stays.

Show me a little love in that review box down there, would ya, Skittles? Move that mouse a little down, clickity-click that left button, and clackity-clack those keys.

And to quote my former self, Till later~


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